DAN GLEITER, The Patriot-News/2007Howard "Vito" Rovito, 66, of Camp Hill, cuts the hair of longtime friend Dr. James Yates, of Lemoyne, at Four Seasons Studio of Hair in Camp Hill. Rovito, who died this week, had survived more than 20 years with a heart transplant.

Howard Rovito of Camp Hill, who was the longest survivor among Harrisburg-area residents who received heart transplants at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, died Monday. He was 69. He received the transplant on Feb. 6, 1986.

Heart transplants were just becoming common. No one was sure what the future held. It was a profound, and mixed, experience for Rovito, whom everyone called "Vito." "It was almost unheard of at that time," said his wife, Doreen Rovito. "It took him a good year to, mentally, get himself back."

Early on, he was preoccupied by the knowledge that it took someone's death to enable him to live. It bothered him.

But he adjusted. He began focusing on goals: Seeing his children graduate from high school. Seeing them marry. Having grandchildren. Meeting Sinatra.

"He accomplished all that and it made him happy," said his wife of 42 years.

Rovito was in his mid-40s when he got a bad cold and the virus attacked his heart.

He was the owner of Four Seasons Studio of Hair in Camp Hill, and earning a very good living, said family and friends.

The transplant forced Rovito to sell Four Seasons, but he continued to cut hair there once a week until a few years ago.

He had many strong, active years after the transplant.

He was a familiar sight around Camp Hill, regularly lunching with friends at a local restaurant.

He counseled patients preparing for heart transplants. After initially avoiding reunions of transplant recipients at Hershey, he attended, realizing his longevity could boost spirits of new transplant recipients.

During the past two years, he finally slowed. All those years of anti-rejection drugs caused his kidneys to fail. He went on dialysis. He wore down.

The car with the "Vito" license plate disappeared from Camp Hill roads.

Still, his loved ones agree the heart transplant caused him to live and love with uncommon intensity, and it rubbed off on others.

"Even though we lost him, we are forever grateful that someone else gave him a chance to live," Doreen Rovito said. "He touched a lot of lives."

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